Elisabeth Stapelfeld led all scorers with 22 points in HB's tough 60-59 OT loss to Pelham in the Division II quarterfinals Sunday. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

Two local high school girls basketball teams. Campbell and Bishop Guertin, punched their ticket Sunday to their respective Final Fours, and there was almost a third.

Falling just short by the slimmest of margins were the Hollis Brookline Cavaliers, by a 60-59 count in overtime at Pelham.

It was a tough loss for the Cavs, who were up six with just two minutes to play and went into a stall offense but still fell short. The Pythons hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie it up at the end of regulation.

“Pelham hit some NBA 3s at the end of the game to seal the trip to the (semi) finals,” HB coach Bob Murphy said.

Jasmin Becott led Pelham with 15 points but HB’s Elisabeth Stapelfeld led all scorers with 22 points. Maggie Crooks had 19 points (8 for 10 from the foul line) while Cheyenne Colbert had eight points and 18 rebounds.

Remember, the Cavs, who finished 7-5, lost 56-40 to Pelham during the abbreviated regular season.

But in this one, the key Cavaliers put up key performances.

“Stapelfeld was our key ball handler and scorer all season Maggie Crooks had her career varsity game,” Murphy said. “Colbert had 18 rebounds, and we did not have that in game one. These three girls hit some key free throws at the end of the game.”

And all three are back to form the nucleus of next year’s team.

BOWLING FINALS

STEVENS TOPS HOLLIS BROOKLINE

It was a tough day for Hollis Brookline athletically, as Stevens of Claremont topped the Cavaliers 4 games to 3 in the NHIAA team bowling finals at Merrimack Ten Pin.

The Cavaliers pushed through to the finals in seven games over Goffstown, winning the decisive seventh game 168-141, while Stevens bested Raymond 4-1 in the best-of-seven semis.

Hollis Brookline fought back from a 3-1 deficit to force a decisive seventh game in the finals, beating the Cardinals 218-134 and 253-101 in Games Five and Six. But they fell 188-116 in the final seventh and deciding game.

Bowling well for HB were Travis LaFontaine, Kail Arthur, Rory Klauber, Tim LeClerc, Cayden Plummer, Jarrett Tousignant, Dan Aulbach, and Zach Sommer.

“It was such a team effort,” HB coach Erin Robbins said. “When one person was down, someone was there to pick them up.

“We played two very strong teams togday and we really stepped up to that challenge.”

The state individual bowling championships are next Saturday at Strikers East in Raymond.

THIS WEEK

There no tournament games today, but plenty the rest of the week.

On Tuesday, the Bishop Guertin girls hockey team will face Hanover in the Division I semifinals at Concord’s Everett Areana at 8 p.m.

Wednesday is the busiest day, with one local boys basketball and three area hockey teams playing.

In basketball, Bishop Guertin will take on Londonderry at 7:30 p.m. at Oyster River High School in Durham.

Hockey starts with Merrimack taking on Somersworth-Coe-Brown at 4:15 p.m. at Dover Ice Arena in the Division II semis.

Closer to home, longtime rivals Bishop Guertin and Concord will tangle in the Division I semis at 7:45 p.m. at Manchester’s JFK Coliseum.

Finally, in the Division III semis, Hollis Brookline-Derryfield will face Kennett at 8 p.m. at Concord’s Everett Arena.

On Thursday, two girls basketball teams will be in action. In Division I, Bishop Guertin will take on Londonderry at 7 p.m. at Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston.

Finally, in Division III, Campbell will take on Conant at 7 p.m. at Trinity of Manchester.

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